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Miami Dolphins draft focus: No more Mr. Nice Guys | Schad

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Miami Dolphins draft focus: No more Mr. Nice Guys | Schad


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  • The Miami Dolphins prioritized drafting tough, physical players in the NFL draft.
  • The Dolphins’ first three draft picks, Kenneth Grant, Jonah Saviinaea, and Jordan Phillips, are known for their aggressive playing styles.
  • Coach Mike McDaniel emphasized a “tonality of violence and aggression” as a key focus for the team.

MIAMI GARDENS — The moment that foreshadowed this Miami Dolphins NFL Draft came in the final days of a cold November, in a locker room in Green Bay Wisconsin.

“Soft,” Dolphins linebacker Jordyn Brooks said of his team’s performance.

It’s a coincidence that five months later the 2025 NFL Draft was held in Green Bay.

It’s no coincidence that the Dolphins drafted a handful of tough, physical, mean bruisers maulers and street-fighters.

“A tonality of violence and aggression,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said during this draft, adding that he and general manager Chris Grier spoke “at length” about addressing the issue.

No more soft guys.

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The Dolphins have attacked the soft perception head-on over the past few days.

Miami’s first three picks weigh a collective 975 pounds.

Yes, first-round defensive tackle Kenneth Grant is a monster.

“On the field, it’s no friends, to be honest,” Grant said in Miami Gardens.

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Yes, second-round guard Jonah Savaiinaea is a beast.

“Punch guys,” Saviinaea said from Hawaii.

Yes, fifth-defensive tackler Jordan Phillips is a scrapper.

“Grit and willingness,” said Phillips, who is from the Orlando area.

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Massive men headed to Miami Gardens to play for Dolphins

There are plenty of problems the Dolphins have to work through before the 2025 season kicks off.

What will they get for Jalen Ramsey when they trade him, presumably as early as June 2? Perhaps Miami can secure a young cornerback; perhaps even a rookie.

Who exactly are Miami’s starting cornerbacks?

At the moment it would appear to be Cam Smith, Storm Duck and Kader Kohou, though clearly Grier will sign at least one veteran capable of starting.

This team seems stuck between trying-to-contend-in-the-AFC and a soft-reset and a hard-rebuild. I’m not entirely sure what it is.

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It seems Grier and the Dolphins are trying to thread a needle.

The average age of their roster will be younger.

Miami’s projected offensive line (in some order) is currently aged 23-21-27-27-25.

This is a young man’s game. At times last season, Miami looked old.

Miami Dolphins wants to get younger, tweak culture in 2025

McDaniel is highly focused on delivering messages about positive culture change.

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He’s got Ramsey on the move and Tyreek Hill causing off-field headaches again.

He’s going to try to establish some discipline and commitment early in the offseason.

“Non-negotiably we’re going to be one team moving in one direction,” McDaniel said, during the draft, “and we’re going to earn everything we get.”

Print the T-Shirts now. “One Team, One Direction.”

Or don’t. What matters more than the shirts is that the message sinks in.

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Miami’s overall roster figures to be on-par or close to on-par in talent to the 2024 version. But last year’s team finished 8-9 and missed the playoffs.

Some things have had to change. And one is this issue about size, strength, toughness, aggression and violence.

What has to change is the on-field “tonality” as McDaniel said.

There is a perception that McDaniel operates a creative offense based in speed and misdirection. There are elements of truth in that.

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Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel wants more on-field aggression and violence

But what McDaniel really wants is an offense primed by physicality and power run.

Miami added a running back, Ollie Gordon, in the sixth round.

We can’t say how good Gordon will be, but he fits the theme. And thus it is very, very easy to understand why he’s a player McDaniel and Grier specifically targeted.

“I’m a bruiser,” Gordon told reporters. “I’m going to run through you. I’m going to make you not want to tackle me.”

Yes. More of that. Change perceptions. Change the tone.

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It’s a clear goal for the Dolphins in 2025.

Joe Schad is a journalist covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com and follow him on Instagram and on X @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe’s free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing today.





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MLS: Messi double helps Inter Miami slay Rapids in front of huge crowd

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MLS: Messi double helps Inter Miami slay Rapids in front of huge crowd


Argentine forward’s brace included the match winner against Colorado Rapids in front of over 75,000 fans in Denver.

Lionel Messi scored a brace and ‌German Berterame headed another as Inter Miami earned a ⁠3-2 win over ⁠the Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer (MLS) on Saturday in Denver.

Messi scored the go-ahead goal in the 79th minute. He started a run just inside midfield and went ⁠unchallenged until the box, where he blasted into the upper left corner for a 3-2 lead.

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Rafael Navarro and Darren Yapi each scored for Colorado (4-4-0, 12 points) in front of 75,824 at Empower Field, the second-largest crowd in MLS history.

Miami (4-1-3, 15 points) took a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute after Colorado goalkeeper Zack Steffen’s pass was intercepted by Yannick Bright. Josh Atencio offered a hard challenge ‌and was shown a yellow card after video review.

Messi took the resulting penalty and rolled his shot straight down the middle as Miami took a 1-0 lead.

Colorado had a solid look at the goal when midfielder Wayne Frederick attempted a one-touch lob. Miami goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair was out of position and well beyond the penalty arc after heading away a loose ball, but Frederick’s attempt sailed ⁠over the open net.

In the fifth minute of first-half stoppage ⁠time, Miami extended their lead to 2-0, connecting on a series of passes deep in their attacking third. Messi got the run of play started with a tight touch pass to Rodrigo De ⁠Paul.

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De Paul sent Mateo Silvetti on a run to the boundary line. His inward-spinning cross floated to the front of ⁠goal, where Berterame rose above the Colorado defence and ⁠tucked a header under the bar.

Navarro’s goal cut Miami’s lead to 2-1. He started a run in midfield and used a step-over move to get an open shot a few steps into the ‌box that tucked inside the left post past a diving St. Clair in the 58th minute.

In the 62nd minute, second-half substitute Yapi settled on a direct pass from Lucas ‌Herrington ‌and sizzled a shot past St. Clair for the equaliser.

Miami closed the win playing a man down as Yannick Bright was sent off with a red card in the 87th minute.

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi scores his 13th-minute penalty against the Colorado Rapids [Geneva Heffernan/AP]



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Former Titans GM mock Miami right tackle to the Cleveland Browns at 6

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Former Titans GM mock Miami right tackle to the Cleveland Browns at 6


The Cleveland Browns traded for an extended right tackle, former Houston Texan Tytus Howard, at the start of free agency as they began their rebuild of the offensive line that was awful in 2025. But Howard has played every position on the offensive line except for center, so if it’s all about getting your best five on the field, which it should be, there’s a chance Howard doesn’t play at right tackle in 2026.

While doing a mock draft on Peter Schrager’s podcast, former Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon had the Browns drafting Miami (FL) right tackle sixth overall. He talked about the issue with Howard, but said Mauigoa could either take over the tackle spot or be a really good guard.

Carthon said he knows that Mauigoa would be one of their best five, whether it is at guard or tackle. Some will say that a guy who may be best at guard isn’t worth the sixth overall pick, and I have to disagree. You should draft the best football players, and Francis Mauigoa is my highest-rated offensive lineman and seventh overall. It might be at guard, but I have a good feeling that Mauigoa will find a home in the NFL as a high-quality offensive lineman.



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Inventory drops for first time since 2023 as sales rebound across coastal Miami, beaches

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Inventory drops for first time since 2023 as sales rebound across coastal Miami, beaches


Inventory of homes and condos across the coastal Miami mainland and Miami Beach and the barrier island markets fell in the first quarter, marking the first big inventory drops since 2023.  

The Corcoran Group’s first quarter reports don’t cover all of Miami-Dade County, but they offer insight into how the coastal markets, which have a higher share of luxury properties, are performing.

In Miami Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor Islands, Surfside, Miami Beach, Fisher Island and Key Biscayne, single-family home inventory dropped 15 percent annually to 398 listings, and condo inventory was down 13 percent to 3,919 listings. 

On Miami’s coastal mainland markets, which include Aventura, Miami Shores, Upper East Side, Edgewater, downtown Miami, Brickell, Coral Gables and Coconut Grove, inventory slipped 4 percent to 4,584 condo listings and 555 single-family listings, down 6 percent year-over-year. 

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Here’s a closer look at the market: 

Miami Beach and the barrier islands

Single-family sales rose 13 percent year-over-year to 85 closings, the first time they have increased since the second quarter of 2024. Condo closings rose 15 percent to 693 closings, the first increase since the last quarter of 2024. 

Pricing dropped, with the median price of single-family homes down 4 percent to $3.5 million and the median condo price down 9 percent to $640,000. The average price per square foot was nearly flat at $1,119. 

Still, buyers set records with their purchases. Billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg paid $170 million for the waterfront mansion at 7 Indian Creek Island Road, and Starbucks billionaire Howard Schultz paid $44 million, or $7,949 per square foot, for a penthouse at the Four Seasons Residences at The Surf Club. 

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Coastal mainland 

Sales of single-family homes on the coastal mainland rose 16 percent to 220 closings. While markets like Coral Gables experienced declines in condo and single-family home sales, Coconut Grove home sales surged — up over 100 percent for single-family homes to 47 closings and up 55 percent to 87 condo closings. Condo sales rose 13 percent to 759 closings. 

The median price of single-family homes across the coastal mainland rose 11 percent to just over $2 million. The median price of condos increased slightly, up 1 percent, to $602,000. 

The priciest deals in the first quarter were the $32 million trade of 12 Tahiti Beach Island Road in Coral Gables, and the $19.8 million sale of a penthouse at Vita at Grove Isle. 





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